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An  Answer  to  the 
ew    England  Country 
Church  Question 

By 
George  Frederick  Wells 


[Reprinted  from  The  Bibliotheca  Sacra,  April,  1907] 


EE 


. 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 

in  2011  with  funding  from 

Boston  Library  Consortium  Member  Libraries 


http://www.archive.org/details/answertonewengla01well 


ARTICLE  VII. 

AN  ANSWER  TO  THE  NEW  ENGLAND  COUNTRY 
CHURCH  QUESTION. 

BY  GEORGE  FREDERICK  WELLS! 

The  first  essential  in  the  solution  of  the  so-called  problem 
of  religious  and  moral  decadence  among  the  byways  and 
hedges  of  what  has  been  America's  truest  Utopia  is  a  sufficient- 
ly broad,  unbiased,  and  practical  interpretation  of  all  the  facts 
and  factors  concerned.  The  purpose  of  a  fresh  discussion  of 
the  New  England  country  church  question  is  to  present  such 
an  interpretation. 

The  strenuous  and  too  often  tragic  experience  of  country 
churches  in  meeting  the  changed  conditions  and  needs  of  our 
times  is  important,  and  many  strong  men  have  treated  it  in ' 
various  ways.  But  in  spite  of  this,  and  the  wide-spread  enter- 
prise of  social  and  religious  workers,  there  is  danger  that, 
even  yet,  we  may  come  short  of  success,  because  our  stand- 
point of  interpretation  is  too  small  and  narrow,  or  because 
it  is  inconsistent  with  the  facts  of  the  field  or  with  a  true  idea 
of  the  Christian  church. 

When  we  look  at  the  expert  work  which  has  already  been 
done  in  this  field,  whether  it  be  evangelical  or  liberal  in  the- 
ology, revolutionary  or  constructive  in  design,  scientific  or 
fragmentary  in  form,  we  find  that  the  mass  of  material  proper- 
ly related  forms  almost  a  distinct  science  in  itself. 

Rollin  Lynde  Hartt  has  been  of  great  service  in  arousing 
interest  in  the  situation  as  it  has  appeared  to  him.     No  more 


4  New  England  Country  Church.  [April. 

scholarly  man  has  pondered  the  problem  than  President  De 
Witt  Hyde,  but  his  work  is  not  yet  fully  appreciated.  Dr. 
Samuel  W.  Dike  has  blazed  the  trail  in  a  truly  scientific  man- 
ner, but  he  has  called  himself  only  a  beginner.  Pioneer 
statistical  work  of  great  merit  has  been  done  by  Dr.  Henry 
Fairbanks.  Dr.  Josiah  Strong  and  Wilbert  L.  Anderson  have 
made  valuable  contributions  as  interpreters  of  the  industrial 
phases  of  the  environment  of  our  changing  church  life.  The 
rapidly  developing  sciences  of  rural  sociology  and  economics, 
under  such  men  as  President  Kenyon  L.  Butterfield  and 
Professor  G.  N.  Lauman,  promise  to  be  of  great  help  in  the 
near  future.  It  is  devoutly  to  be  hoped  that  the  statistical 
work  of  the  denominational  home  missionary  societies  and  the 
Sunday-school  associations,  and  the  researches  of  the  Young 
Men's  Christian  Association  in  country  territories,  are  about 
to  emerge  into  their  scientific  stage. 

Before  taking  up  the  leading  seemingly  inadequate  inter- 
pretations of  the  country  church  problem,  the  Christian  church 
itself  must  be  defined. 

It  is  not  enough  to  say  that  the  Christian  church  is  simply 
the  social  institution  of  the  religious  life:  there  are  religious 
social  institutions  that  are  not  churches.  Neither  is  it  always 
true  that  the  most  specialized  social  institutions  of  religion  are 
Christian  churches.  It  makes  some  difference  what  religion 
we  are  talking  about.  Scientific  sociology  may  call  the  church 
that  portion  of  the  social  constitution  which  seeks  the  ethical 
and  religious  betterment  of  men.  This  certainly  would  in- 
clude the  modern  Christian  church  as  we  understand  it.  But 
it  does  not  seem  sufficiently  to  honor  the  Christian  history  of 
the  particular  institution  which  we  commonly  designate  as 
the  church. 


1907.]  New  England  Country  Church.  5 

Dr.  Josiah  Strong  says  that  the  rediscovery  of  the  kingdom 
of  God  "  as  a  new  social  ideal  yet  to  be  realized  on  the  earth  " 
has  been  very  recent.     Is  it  possible  that  the  rediscovery,  or 
perhaps  the  discovery,  of  the  church  has  not  yet  taken  place? 
Since  we  are  careful  to  maintain    neither    sociological    nor 
theological  language  or  methods  in  any  distinct  way,  let  us  be 
reminded  that  theology,  though  it  recognizes  the  Christian 
church  as  something  social,  does  not  necessarily  nor  usually, 
if  ever,  give  it  a  full  status  as  a  social  institution.    And,  fur- 
thermore, is  theology  alone,  limited  as  it  is  in  stating  the  re- 
lations of  social  institutions  to  each  other,  or  making  clear  the 
unfoldings  of  social  forces,  able  to  do  justice  to  the  modern 
church?     On  the  other    hand,    is    it    possible    for    scientific 
sociology  adequately  to  characterize  the  church  of  Christianity, 
if,  for  no  other  reason,  because  it  has  no  language  by  which 
to  designate  the  redemptional  meaning  for  which  the  church, 
the  guiding  expression  of  Christianity,  is  expected  to  stand? 
Each  science  by  itself  at  the  present  time  seems  to  be  inade- 
quate.    But  the  contributions  of  each  are  absolutely  indis- 
pensable.    The  Christian  church  has  its  home  in  two  worlds. 
It  is  more  than  poetry  to  call  her  a  mother  on  earth  and  a 
bride  in  heaven.     Thus  we  welcome  the  term  "  kingdom  of 
God  "  in  its  largest  Christian  sense,  because  it  enables  us  to 
centralize  the  meaning  of  the  church,  as,    sociologically,  the 
guiding  star  of  "  a  social  ideal  yet  to    be    realized    on    the 
earth,"  and,  theologically,  as  the  earthly  institute  of  eternal 
redemption. 

The  Christian  church,  then,  may  be  called  that  specialised 
part  of  the  organized  expression  of  the  kingdom  of  God  among 
men  which  embodies  and  promulgates  the  distinctly  ethical 
and  religious  aspects  of  the  kingdom. 


6  New  England  Country  Church.  [April. 

It  is  regretted  that  in  this  article  we  cannot  give  in  a  de- 
tailed form  the  body  of  facts  from  the  field  upon  the  basis  of 
which  the  present  larger  interpretation  of  the  country  church 
problem  has  been  worked  out.  So,  without  further  elabora- 
tion of  the  idea  of  the  church,  and  without  defending  this 
idea, — for  the  practical  conditions  in  the  case  seem  to  sub- 
stantiate it, — the  interpretation  itself  will  be  given  upon  the 
background  of  the  four  leading  partial  but  preliminary  inter- 
pretations. These  usual  theories  are  evident  enough  from 
the  classes  of  work  that  are  being  done,  and  also  from  the 
literature  of  this  subject.  The  logic  of  practical  necessity  will 
be  followed  as  to  the  order  of  these  theories,  beginning  with 
those  that  are  most  prominent  as  theories  and  leading  to  those 
of  greater  practical  importance. 

I. 

Can  any  one  be  blamed  for  thinking  that  the  New  England 
country  church  question  is  one  of  theological  dogmas  or  sec- 
tarian creeds?  Who  can  criticise  the  theologian  who  thinks 
that  he,  unassisted,  is  able  to  prescribe  for  the  solution  of  the 
problem?  But  the  theological  interpretation  of  the  country 
church  problem  taken  alone  is  insufficient,  as  we  shall  see.  The 
greatest  error  of  interpretation  is  apt  to  occur  right  here. 

I  am  well  aware  that  the  page  of  New  England  history  has 
been  much  marked  by  the  footprints  of  creeds  and  dogmas. 
It  is  true  that  that  noble  Pilgrim  band  which  landed  on 
Plymouth  Rock  nearly  three  centuries  ago  was  impelled  and 
empowered  by  the  one  desire  to  find  a  home  for  a  new  belief. 
I  believe  with  gladness  that  the  early  New  England  parish  had 
to  be  ruled  by  the  supremacy  of  things  mystical  and  dogmatic 
in  order  to  become  the  cradle  of  American  freedom,  the 
nursery  of  our    finest    literature,    and    the    parent    of    both 


1907.]  New  England  Country   Church.  7 

America's  political  and  educational  systems.  I  grant  that  the 
controversy  from  the  days  of  Freeman,  Ware,  and  Channing 
which  has  stirred  New  England  thought  through  and  through, 
and  the  echo  of  which  has  been  heard  around  the  world,  was 
centered  about  the  greatest  doctrines  of  all  theology.  I  am 
proud  that  New  England,  principally  because  her  strict  ad- 
herence to  strong  types  of  theology  had  so  completely  tem- 
pered her  life,  has  surpassed  other  sections  of  the  republic  in 
producing  America's  superb  manhood,  and  those  missionary 
movements  that  are  to-day  engirdling  the  world  with  religious 
light  and  power.  Nevertheless  the  New  England  question  is 
not  entirely  theological. 

New  England  to-day  is  especially  known  as  the  home  in 
America  of  the  so-called  liberal  movement  in  theology.  The 
great  mission  of  the  liberal  theology  at  first  was  to  displace 
the  sternness  of  Calvinism,  and  later  it  has  tried  to  socialize 
the  great  denominations.  Hler  aim  has  not  been  to  devitalize 
religious  beliefs,  but  rather  to  make  them  more  practical  and 
powerful ;  to  make  them  more  human,  and  thus  more  divine. 
In  performing  her  mission  she  has  taught  the  denominations 
the  invaluable  lesson  that  they  have  a  social  problem.  The  day 
will  come  when  hardly  a  greater  tribute  of  praise  will  be 
given  to  New  England  than  for  her  leadership  in  socializing 
the  modern  church  through  her  liberal  movement. 

But  there  are  two  sides  to  this  matter  of  liberal  theology, 
and  one  without  the  other  does  not  represent  my  view. 

From  the  fact  that  this  New  England  liberal  movement 
places  so  strong  emphasis  upon  education,  the  philosophies, 
and  humanitarian  types  of  reform,  it  may  be  called  essentially 
sociological.  There  is  danger  lest  sociology  be  allowed  to 
take  the  place  of  theology,  or  that  the  goal  of  our  thought  ex- 
tend hardly  higher  than  a  human    level.      The    sciences  of 


8  New  England  Country  Church.  [April. 

things  seen  must  never  be  permitted  to  crowd  out  the  truths 
of  vision  and  of  faith.  A  sociology  can  never  take  the  place 
of  a  theology,  however  unsocial  the  latter  may  be.  What  we 
are  now  getting,  in  the  evangelical  and  missionary  movements 
of  the  present  day,  is  a  theology  socialized — the  things  of  faith 
humanly  taught  and  lived.  While  the  liberal  movement — 
along  with  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association,  the  Salva- 
tion Army,  the  institutional  saloon,  and  similar  movements — 
has  effectively  reminded  the  denominations  that  they  have  a 
duty  to  society,  and  hence  a  social  problem,  she  has  not  taught 
them  how  to  solve  it.  A  grievance  is  not  a  propaganda.  The 
danger,  if  not  already  the  guilt,  of  the  liberal  movement,  be- 
cause of  a  too  persistent  emphasis,  is  that  of  not  becoming  a 
part  of  the  socialized  church  she  has  helped  to  nurture,  and 
thus  of  becoming  ineffective  as  a  mere  sociology. 

So  the  New  England  country  church  question  is  seen  to  have 
a  humanitarian  or  social  dimension,  and  is  therefore  not  entirely 
theological.  If  the  problem  of  the  Christian  church  were  one 
of  theology  alone,  what  could  the  church  itself  be  but  some 
artificial  mechanism  of  thought  operated  by  theological  creed- 
power  ? 

II. 

The  next  most  usual  error  of  students  of  rural  problems  is 
to  overemphasize  the  economic  interpretation  of  the  question. 
This  mistake,  as  is  the  case  with  the  exaggeration  of  theology, 
is  essentially  academic.  Nevertheless  it  has  its  practical  bear- 
ing of  fundamental  importance. 

Political  economy,  in  its  scientific  application,  seems  in- 
sufficient for  entirely  explaining  the  changed  conditions  of 
modern  society  that  affect  country  churches.  At  best  it  is  only 
a  part  truth  to  call  industrialism  the  cause  of  all  recent  prog- 


1907.]  New  England  Country  Church.  9 

ress.  Dr.  Josiah  Strong  says  so  much  about  the  typical  in- 
strument of  industrialism  that  we  might  almost  call  him  the 
father  of  the  steam-engine  theory  of  social  interpretation. 
One  would  think  from  statements  like  the  following  that  he 
was  inclined  to  give  too  large  a  place  to  industrialism.  He 
says :  "  We  must  not  be  surprised  that  the  industrial  revolu- 
tion of  the  past  century  has  produced  and  is  producing  a  new 
civilization."  Mr.  Wilbert  L.  Anderson,  in  the  Country  Town, 
seems  to  place  a  similar  emphasis.  In  speaking  of  the  growing 
cities,  he  says :  "  That  this  phenomenal  development  during 
the  last  hundred  years  is  due  to  industrial  causes  ...  is 
sufficiently  evident"  (p.  35). 

It  is  not  difficult  at  this  point  to  get  things  into  their  right 
relations.  Edward  Pearson  Pressay  is  helpful  in  saying, 
"  Commercial  ideals,  and  not  commerce  and  manufacturing 
by  steam,  have  wrought  the  quality  of  change."  It  is  quite 
possible  that  the  steam-engine  and  modern  social  progress  have 
a  common  cause  lying  a  little  farther  back.  The  renaissance 
of  learning,  with  its  discovery  of  a  new  world  and  its  religious 
reformation,  preceded  James  Watt  and  the  rise  of  industrial- 
ism. 

And  then  we  must  not  forget  that  the  explanation  of  a  part, 
however  important  it  may  be,  cannot  make  clear  the  whole. 
Professor  Seligman  well  says  that  a  the  economic  life  does  not 
constitute  the  whole  of  social  life." 

That  the  economic  interpretation  has  its  limitations  is  evi- 
dent from  one  concrete  example.  The  following  instance 
has  so  many  counterparts  in  New  England  that  no  apology  is 
necessary  for  its  use  here. 

A  count  has  recently  been  made  of  the  number  of  houses, 
both  occupied  dwellings  and  vacant,  in  a  single  country 
village  in  the  lower  valley  of  the  Sacandaga  River  near  Sara- 


10  New  England  Country  Church.  [April. 

toga,  New  York.  In  this  once  prosperous  village  there  is  now 
one  struggling  church  unable  to  have  a  local  pastor,  two 
churches  with  closed  doors,  and  within  a  mile  of  the  village, 
two  other  churches  in  which  there  is  no  preaching.  The  vil- 
lage has  fifty-eight  houses,  some  of  them  large  enough  for 
three  or  four  families,  fifteen  of  which  were  unoccupied  three 
years  ago,  and  now  thirty,  or  more  than  fifty  per  cent  of  them, 
are  vacant  and  lonely.  But  the  community  as  a  whole,  of 
which  the  village  was  only  a  part,  was  essentially  agricultural 
and  composed  largely  of  farmers.  It  lost  its  factory  folk 
when  a  local  factory  closed,  and  most  of  them  moved  down 
the  valley  to  the  banks  of  the  Hudson  to  work  in  one  of  the 
largest  paper-mills  in  the  world. 

The  loss  of  the  factory  workers  in  this  case  was,  of  course, 
due  to  the  centralization  of  industry.  But  if  the  churches,  by 
power  of  spiritual  life  and  leadership  in  social  life,  had  done 
more,  and  by  excessive  sectarianism  and  personal  autocracy 
had  done  less,  the  community  to-day  would  not  be  suffering  an 
almost  total  lapse  from  essential  Christianity.  Its  ethical 
history  cannot  be  read  in  the  terms  of  industrial  changes 
alone.  However  much  the  Christian  church  may  or  may  not 
be  the  creation  of  economic  interests,  considered  in  their  last 
and  highest  analysis,  she  is  not  the  helpless  offspring  nor  the 
menial  slave  of  industrial  caprice  or  power. 

III. 

In  the  third  place,  we  come  to  the  religious  interpretation. 
This  theory  is  held  by  very  many  of  those  who  are  engaged 
in  the  practical  solution  of  the  country  church  problem. 

These  workers  are  missionaries  as  truly  as  those  found  in 
city  slums  or  foreign  fields.  To  them  individually  the  chief 
concern  of  life  is  worship,  religious  instruction,  faith  in  God, 


1907.]  New   England  Country   Church.  11 

love  for  his  creatures,  personal  consecration  to  the  point  of 
devotion,  joy  in  the  Christ  of  redemption,  spiritual  vision  and 
ambition  that  seeks  the  life  of  God  consciously  and  continually 
abiding  in  men,  and  the  conversion  of  the  whole  world. 

To  them  as  missionaries  the  problem  of  the  church  is  the 
call  for  religion,  more  religion,  a  deepening  and  extension  of 
spiritual  living.  To  them  the  evangelical  revival,  continuous 
rather  than  spasmodic,  but  the  revival  nevertheless,  is  the 
usual  prescription  for  dead  churches,  and  communities  morally 
lapsed.  To  them  if  the  simple  gospel  may  be  preached  in 
evangelical  terms, — the  gospel  of  Sabbath  rest  and  worship, 
the  gospel  of  sins  forgiven  and  lives  transformed,  the  gospel 
of  benevolence  and  service,  and  the  gospel  of  purity  and  tem- 
perance,— then  the  whole  lump  of  society  will  be  leavened  and 
the  reign  of  peace  will  surely  come. 

Not  long  ago  a  missionary  from  the  slums  of  a  large  city 
came  to  be  the  pastor  of  a  decadent  New  England  country 
church.  It  was  prophesied  that  that  church  must  dismiss  its 
minister  and  close  its  doors  inside  of  five  years.  The  older 
members  were  dying  and  the  young  people  were  going  to  the 
cities.  Its  clergy  had  been  irregular  and  inefficient.  Church 
quarrels  had  been  the  cause  of  several  empty  pews.  Though 
it  was  the  only  church  in  the  community,  sectarianism  of  a 
certain  sort  was  rife  between  the  contending  factions,  under 
the  leadership  of  the  ever-present  church  autocrats.  Church 
finances  were  slow  and  tedious.  A  good-natured  type  of  com- 
mercialism was  not  the  least  blessing  and  curse  which  the 
church  enjoyed.  The  church  was  lonely,  from  its  suburban 
location,  the  market,  railroad,  post-office,  school,  and  the 
lodges  all  being  in  a  near-by  town  of  increasing  import- 
ance.   Above  all,  the  people  did  not  believe  in  the  church. 


12  New  England  Country  Church.  [April. 

When  the  evangelistic  pastor  was  well  started  in  his  new 
field  he  was  asked :  "  Do  you  not  get  lonesome  in  your  work? 
Do  you  not  sometimes  feel  that,  as  far  as  reaching  the  com- 
munity outside  of  the  church  is  concerned,  the  church  and 
your  work  might  as  well  be  foity  miles  away?  Does  the 
church  engine,  however  well  it  is  fired,  draw  the  community 
train?"  After  several  months  of  experiment  the  pastor  re- 
plied :  "  I  am  sounding  the  evangelistic  note  because  I  believe 
in  it.  Our  church  is  growing.  We  are  reaching  the  whole 
community  by  the  new  way  of  the  old  gospel.  We  have  no 
trouble  to  get  money.  My  salary  a  good  share  of  the  time  is 
overpaid.  Our  winter  congregation  is  larger  than  is  usual 
for  summer.  We  have  bought  a  new  organ  and  paid  for  it. 
We  will  give  over  fifty  dollars  for  missions,  and  quite  as  much 
for  other  causes.  Sunday-school  attendance  is,  on  the  aver- 
age, twelve  above  any  previous  record  I  can  find." 

This  instance  stands  as  a  triumph  for  the  religious  inter- 
pretation. But  a  question  is  sure  to  arise.  Will  it  be  lasting? 
Since  the  work  is  genuine  and  under  strong  leadership,  we 
cannot  help  but  answer,  Yes,  as  long  as  the  present  balance  of 
methods  and  forces  continues.  There  is  evidence  that  the 
social  and  intellectual  requirements  are  wisely  met  by  the  com- 
munity. After  all,  the  supremacy  of  spiritual  religion  has  too 
largely  departed  from  the  churches,  and,  until  it  is  restored, 
the  churches,  whatever  else  they  may  or  may  not  have,  will 
be  suffering  their  greatest  possible  loss.  "  This  ought  ye  to 
have  done  without  leaving  the  other  undone." 

The    limitations  of  the  religious    interpretation    must    be 
stated.    Let  them  first  be  suggested  by  an  actual  instance- 
Six  summers  ago  there  was  a  revival  of  the  D.  L.  Moody 
type  in  a  New  England    mountain   town    of    less    than    800 
inhabitants.     About  eighty  conversions  resulted.     The  revival 


I9°7-]  New  England  Country  Church.  13 

was  remarkable  in  faith,  for  it  was  the  first  of  the  kind  that 
the  town  had  ever  had.  The  churches  had  been  discordant, 
and  the  leading  church,  by  a  quarrelsome  chapter  of  a  secret 
order,  had  been  allotted  but  one  more  year  of  lingering  ex- 
istence. The  revival  was  remarkable  also  in  works.  It  had 
power  to  heal  family  and  personal  feuds,  to  help  the  churches 
to  useful  cooperation,  to  transform  some  desperate  characters, 
and  to  create  a  new  atmosphere  of  religious  and  social  life. 
Strong  devotional  life  and  vigorous  and  wise  personal  leader- 
ship were  manifested,  and  the  work  flourished  for  a  time.  But 
something  was  soon  lacking.  What  are  the  conditions  now? 
It  is  reported  that  less  than  one-fourth  of  the  population  ever 
attend  any  one  of  the  three  churches;  that  in  the  community 
there  are  at  least  twenty  women  of  immoral  character;  that 
there  is  so  much  inter-church  strife  that  there  is  no  time  for 
other  church  quarrels ;  the  highest  ambition  of  the  average 
boy  is  to  have  a  gun,  a  dog,  a  horse,  and  to  live  in  the  woods ; 
and  irreligion  and  vice  are  on  the  increase. 

What  was  lacking?  The  community  needed  sufficient  moral 
force  in  its  citizens,  so  that  organized  temptation  might  be 
eliminated,  ethical  strength  in  the  churches  to  unite  the  work- 
ing religious  forces,  more  healthy  social  enjoyment,  a  higher 
educational  standard  as  an  intellectual  and  moral  incentive  for 
the  people,  and  more  association  with  the  big  world  to  give 
the  young  people  ambition  for  large  and  useful  living.  These 
not  already  existing,  the  church  should  do  its  part  in  securing 
them.  How  could  a  revival  of  devotional  religion  supply  all 
of  these  conditions?  Yet  all  these,  and  perhaps  others,  are 
necessary  for  successful  church  life  in  this  community. 

The  limitations  of  the  religious  interpretation  of  the  country 
church  question  lie  in  the  facts  that  country  churches  cannot 
live  apart  from  their  environment,  and  that  religion,  however 


14  New  England  Country   Church.  [April. 

effective  it  is  in  its  right  relations,  cannot  respond  to  all  of  the 
demands  of  the  human  personality  nor  fulfil  all  the  aspects  of 
the  kingdom  of  God  developing  among  men.  Life  is  more 
than  a  continued  prayer-meeting,  ending  only  when  men  sing 
themselves  away  to  everlasting  bliss. 

IV. 

In  the  fourth  place,  we  come  to  what  is  commonly  called  the 
social  problem  of  the  church  and  its  solution  by  social  methods. 

A  church  may  be  said  to  have  a  theological  problem  when  its 
creeds  or  teachings  are  not  in  harmony  with  the  highest 
Christian  conceptions  of  truth,  to  have  an  economic  problem 
when  industrial  changes  rob  the  church  of  its  people  and  means 
of  support,  and  to  have  a  religious  problem  when  faith  is  weak 
and  worship  is  not  respected.  Theology,  religion,  and  econo- 
mics alike  recognize  that  the  church  has  a  social  problem  in 
the  large  sense  that  she  has  a  duty  in  behalf  of  society.  This, 
however,  is  not  what  we  mean  by  the  social  problem  of  the 
church. 

But  when  churches  are  found  to  be  out  of  balance  from  a 
lack  of  social  life  in  themselves,  unfruitful  in  spiritual  results 
from  a  lack  of  social  adjustment  to  surroundings,  or  deficient 
or  dying  because  of  an  unfavorable  social  environment;  and 
when  these  difficulties  can  be  removed  by  a  revival  in  these 
churches  of  purely  social  interests,  by  a  use  of  social  agencies 
in  securing  for  the  church  a  proper  relation  to  the  world,  or 
by  getting  into  a  favorable  environment, — then  may  the 
church  be  said  to  have  a  social  problem  that  demands  a  social 
interpretation.  Thus  we  secure  a  distinctly  social  standpoint 
for  both  study  and  effort. 

There  is,  indeed,  at  the  present  time,  much  need    of    em- 


1907.]  New   England  Country   Church.  15 

phasis  upon  the  practical  social  problems  of  country  as  well 
as  of  city  churches. 

Sectarianism,  or  the  clash  in  the  same  communities  between 
different  denominations,  is  certainly  a  social  difficulty,  since  it 
can  be  shown  that  the  sectarianism  of  social  castes  or  grades 
as  represented  in  the  churches  is  greater  than  that  caused  by 
difference  of  creed  or  belief.  And  the  misfortunes  brought 
about  by  the  industrial  readjustments  of  communities  so  that 
society  demands  of  the  church  the  temporary  performance  of 
the  usual  functions  of  the  home,  school,  civil,  and  commercial 
institutions,  also  burden  the  church  with  special  social  duties, 
and  place  before  her  choice  opportunities  of  service. 

Such  conditions,  which  call  for  church  federation  and  in- 
stitutionalism, — using  these  terms  in  their  technical  sense, — 
sufficiently  illustrate  this  phase  of  the  question.  The  social 
interpretation  of  the  country  church  problem  might  further  be 
indicated,  but  its  mere  definition  and  illustration,  in  view  of 
the  preceding  discussions,  is  enough  to  indicate  both  its 
value  and  its  limitations.  It  is  evident  that  some  country 
churches  need  the  work  of  social  specialists,  but  others  have 
needs  which  cannot  be  supplied  by  social  forms  of  effort 
alone.  A  church  of  the  kingdom  is  always  more  than  a  social 
club. 

After  all,  we  come  to  the  one  declaration  that  the  problem 
of  the  New  England  country  church  is  the  problem  of  the 
kingdom  of  God  at  its  highest  ethical  and  religious  altitude, 
and  the  way  to  it. 

We  have  found  no  other  adequate  standpoint  from  which  to 
define  the  modern  Christian  church  in  its  local  sense.  And 
from  no  other  standpoint  can  the  country  church  question  find 
a  satisfactory  answer. 


16  New  England  Country  Church.  [April. 

There  is  need  of  further  analysis  and  application:  first,  in 
a  technical  manner,  and  then  practically. 

The  attempt  has  been  made  to  find  an  eclectic  or  all-com- 
prehensive science,  which,  as  a  science,  will  take  account  of  all 
the  conditions  and  factors  involved  in  the  churches,  whether 
these  factors  be  theological,  religious,  industrial,  social,  or 
otherwise,  and  translate  them  into  the  terms  of  one  common 
measure.  Such  a  science,  it  would  seem,  would  meet  the 
technical  needs  of  our  present  situation. 

I  believe  that  the  science  of  social  economy  in  its  application 
to  rural  life  is  just  what  we  have  so  long  desired.    Economics 
deals  with  the  "  adjustment  of  life  to  the  wherewithal  of  life." 
In  a  primary  sense  this  science,  as  we  now  seek  to  use  it,  treats 
of  the  adjustment  of  natural  or  physical  resources  to  the  needs 
of  rural  society.    But  in  a  secondary,  yet  true,  if  not  necessary, 
application,   it  may   consider  the    intellectual    and    spiritual 
wants  of  men.     This  would  be  true  for  those  higher  wants 
which  are  satisfied  by  aesthetic,  moral,  or  religious  values  that 
have  their  equivalents  in  material  things,  or  manifest  them- 
selves in   social  customs  and   forms.     The  question   "  What 
would  real  estate  be  worth  in  Sodom?"  indicates  that  organ- 
ized religious  life  has  a  direct  bearing  in  the  economic  life. 
The  statistics  of  church  membership  and  attendance,  church 
property  and  expenses,  and  other  similar  facts  of  status,  are 
a  reliable  measure  of  the  price  which  is  placed  upon  the  par- 
ticular values  for  which  the  church  stands. 

Or,  if  we  look  at  the  same  thing  from  the  subjective  rather 
than  from  the  objective  side,  we  may  utilize  the  science  of 
Christian  ethics,  in  which  statistics  are  inductively  applied  to 
the  existing  conditions  of  the  field,  as  the  one  adequate  inter- 
pretation of  the  needs,  forms,  and  forces  of  organized  rural 
Christianity.     This  is  seen  to  be  practicable,  since  the  moral 


1907.]  New  England  Country  Church.  17 

consideration  is  so  absolutely  ubiquitous  in  everything  that 
concerns  the  country  church,  whether  it  be  the  matter  of  social 
environment  molded  by  industrial  conditions,  the  integrity  of 
theological  standards,  or  the  vitality  of  religious  experience. 
But  all  this  needs  to  be  held  in  the  light  and  experience  of 
the  great  living  ideal  which  we  would  realize  for  the  world  in 
the  completed  kingdom  of  God.  An  eclectic  science  implies 
the  existence  and  use  of  other  sciences.  Thus  we  get  not  a 
mere  science,  nor  a  group  of  related  sciences,  but  a  whole 
kingdom  of  vital  truth.  If  all  the  glory  of  the  nations  is  to  be 
brought  into  the  New  Jerusalem  of  the  church  triumphant, 
why  are  not  the  treasures  of  all  the  sciences,  and  all  the 
beauties  of  character  and  life  as  well,  to  be  held  for  service  and 
embodied  in  every  church,  rural  or  urban,  that  the  sun  shines 
upon? 

In  looking  at  the  problem  of  the  country  churches  from  the 
practical  standpoint,  we  find  that  the  eclecticism  of  the  king- 
dom of  God,  as  represented  in  the  Christian  use  of  rural 
economics  or  practical  ethics,  is  both  real  and  true. 

To  the  students  of  the  kingdom  such  an  interpretation,  and 
only  such,  covers  the  field. 

When  one  seeks  a  method  by  which  he  can  adequately 
study  the  conditions  of  rural  religious  life,  there  are  several 
things  he  must  take  into  account.  He  must  determine  the 
relative  worth  of  creeds,  of  which  there  are  the  authoritative 
or  dogmatic,  the  evangelical  or  vital,  the  liberal  or  humanitar- 
ian, and  the  spiritistic.  Of  church  governments  he  must  consider 
the  autonomous,  the  episcopal,  the  presbyterial.  He  must 
weigh  the  power  of  the  different  ministerial  types,  such  as  the 
priestly,  the  homiletic,  the  social,  the  pedagogic,  the  evange- 
listic, and  so  forth.  The  economic,  educational,  and  moral 
conditions  of  communities  must  be  studied,  so  that  the  churches 


18  New  England  Country   Church.  [April. 

can  be  classified  according  to  social  environment.  A  neglected 
element  in  the  study  of  religious  problems  is  that  of  the  genius 
loci  of  churches.  For  what  does  each  church  stand?  Is  it  for 
the  kingdom  of  God  in  a  large  way,  or  only  for  a  small  phase 
of  it?  Some  churches  stand  for  character  in  all  its  breadth 
and  power,  others  for  intellectuality,  sestheticism,  moral 
energy,  respectability  or  social  selection,  sociability  or  social 
enjoyment,  emotionalism  or  religious  enjoyment,  traditional- 
ism, sectarian  pride,  and  other  qualities  more  or  less  worthy. 
Special  research  needs  to  be  made  of  the  social  policies  of  the 
church;  such  as,  evangelism,  or  the  propagandism  of  the  re- 
ligious interests  of  the  church ;  federation, .  or  the  uniting  of 
formal  forces  to  promote  life;  institutionalism,  or  the  church 
doing  the  work  of  secular  institutions  by  substitution;  and 
cooperation,  or  the  church  working  with  other  institutions, 
religious  or  secular,  for  total  social  welfare.  And  then  the 
religious  societies  within  the  churches,  such  as  Sunday-schools, 
young  peoples'  societies,  and  missionary  societies,  must  be 
definitely  investigated.  Surely  no  one  science  alone  is 
sufficient  for  the  treatment  of  so  many  and  diverse  interests. 

But  the  best  elaboration  of  the  larger  view  must  express 
itself  through  the  men  of  the  kingdom.  When  the  message 
of  the  truer  interpretation  is  more  generally  received,  the 
workers  will  be  spared  from  meager  adaptations  and  small 
success. 

When  that  time  comes,  not  even  successful  church  federa- 
tion workers  will  say  of  that  method :  "  We  think  it  is  the 
only  way  to  solve  the  country  church  problem."  How  could 
federation  help  a  community  with  one  church,  and  that  dying 
for  evangelism?  "  I  had  come  to  the  settled  belief,"  confesses 
one  social  worker,  "  that  institutional  methods  generally 
applied  were  the  only  salvation  for  the  church  in  this  age." 


1907.]  New   England  Country   Church.  19 

Institutional  methods  are  always  a  curse  when  they  seek  to 
do  work  that  the  home  or  other  secular  but  right  agencies  can 
do  as  well.  How  many  ministers  are  preaching  the  second 
commandment  to  the  church  in  behalf  of  the  world,  when  the 
church  itself  is  dead  for  the  need  of  the  first !  No  stream 
can  rise  higher  than  its  source.  Though  no  church  in  an  un- 
saved community  is  safe  without  evangelism,  yet  evangelism 
alone  can  never  conquer  the  planet  for  Christ.  Many  a  re- 
vival has  failed  because  the  church  has  stood  for  the  salva- 
tion of  the  soul,  but  not  for  that  of  the  life.  A  man  must 
find  through  the  church  the  home  for  his  life  if  he  would  find 
in  the  Christ  the  home  of  his  soul.  More  churches  have  been 
killed  by  theology  and  preaching  than  by  life  and  righteous- 
ness, but  the  four  in  harmony  are  necessary  for  solving  the 
problems  of  duty  and  love,  of  thought  and  conduct.  And 
thus  shall  the  kingdom  come. 

The  problems  of  the  country  churches  in  New  England  are 
theological  and  religious,  ethical,  economic  and  social,  in 
different  degrees,  at  different  times  and  places ;  but  they  are 
the  problems  of  the  kingdom  always  and  everywhere.  I  be- 
lieve that  every  case  of  misfortune  and  sin  can  be  met  by  care- 
ful diagnosis  and  prescription,  limited  only  by  the  passing  of 
time  and  the  human  will,  so  that  every  community  may  be- 
come a  paradise  of  the  King.  It  is  because  we  already  have 
so  much  of  the  kingdom  that  we  work  so  hard. 


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